Army reservists arriving at Bedford’s Army Reserve Center nearly spent a weekend making do without water from the Bedford Regional Water Authority.
The Water Authority had disconnected the Reserve Center last week because of non-payment of its last bill. Water service was reconnected before the reservists arrived because Bedford Mayor Bob Wandrei personally paid the Reserve Center’s past due amount of $1,259.42.

Two newly hired officers for the Bedford Police Department were touching base with the community Saturday afternoon at the 3-on-3 basketball tournament held at Edmund Street Park.

This week, they left for training at the Cardinal Criminal Justice Academy in Salem.
Chevon Thompson and Daniel Willis attended Saturday’s event and began working on the community policing initiative that Bedford Police Chief Todd Foreman is stressing for the department.

The Bedford-Franklin Regional Rail Committee Rail Liaison Committee has settled on a site for a rail passenger station in Bedford. Last week, Brian McCrodden, a member of the committee, briefed Bedford Town Council.

Back when Lacey Putney was first elected to the House of Delegates, the winner of the Democratic Primary was also the winner of the November election. Putney was first elected by unseating the incumbent delegate, Charles Green, in a Democratic Party primary in 1961.
Now, at least in Bedford County, the winner of the Republican primary is also the winner of the November election.

Crime in the town of Bedford is up.
In fact, according to the Virginia State Police, the town has the highest rate of crimes per capita in Virginia.
But those numbers are a bit misleading – according to the report itself.
For 2014, the VSP report states that the town averaged 11,735 crimes per 100,000 people. Of course, Bedford doesn’t have close to that number of people – but it does have more than the report states.

After more than 30 years of work in law enforcement, Capt. Jim Bennett of the Bedford Police Department is retiring.

Most of those years were spent here in Bedford – he began his career with the Wintergreen Police Department in 1984 and joined the Bedford PD in 1987.
“Hopefully I’ve made a difference in some people’s lives,” Bennett stated Thursday, during a retirement gathering for him in the council chambers at the Municipal Building.

The Stewartsville-Chamblissburg Volunteer Fire Department got unanimous approval from the board of supervisors to buy a new fire truck. The truck will be a 2015 Pierce pumper. According to Jack Jones, the county’s fire and rescue chief, the pumper purchase is part of the fire and rescue 20 year replacement cycle.

Turnout was good, especially for a primary. According to Barbara Gunter, the county’s registrar, voter turnout was 4.6 percent by 10 a.m. The Welcome Center precinct had seen 96 voters by 9:30 a.m. and the Bedford Central Library precinct had seen 126 by 10 a.m. Voter turnout at the Liberty High School precinct was 117 by 10:45.